Blockchain Jam

:agile, KIC InnoEnergy and BNE partnership for innovation

09. October 2017 Berlin - EUREF Campus

Blockchain is a technological advance that has a wide-reaching implications on almost every industry. However, it is still one of the single most confusing terms. What is it again? And why is it relevant to energy? Trying to find the answers to these questions :agile accelerator, KIC InnoEnergy and Bundesverband Neue Energiewirtschaft e.V. powered up and invited energy enthusiasts to their first Blockchain Jam on 6th and 7th October.

Again organising the event at EUREF Campus, the home of energy transition in Berlin, the team has started the morning preparation with excitement and worry. A heavy storm hit Berlin just the evening before leaving blocked roads and non-functioning public transport – will anyone still manage to come?

There was no need to wait long – there is no storm heavy enough for real blockchainers. Fighting broken trees and massive puddles, more than 60 participants have made it to Berlin. It was not easy for everyone – some determined teams had to spend over 24 hours traveling to the location.

Believing that technology should be built by people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives, software developers, hackers, techies, product developers, designers, artists, business, finance and marketing guys, students and everyone from in and out of this world were invited to hack together. The ideas varied from EV charging with smart contracts to smart billing solutions.

After developing business models and sketching the first prototypes on Friday and Saturday, 7 ideas were pitched to the jury. Planning to choose two winning projects – The Best Overall and The Best Blockchain Solution – the jury has faced a hard decision: two teams were just too close to each other for the latter prize.

As a result, Contract with the Sun and E.I.P have both been awarded the title of the Best Blockchain Solution. The honour to be the best project overall and a check of 500 Euros was given to Easy Asset Coin.

The event was built on the shoulders of three energy companies. Dirk Bessau, business development manager at KIC InnoEnergy, explains: “A hackathon or a jam is based on heterogeneous inputs, different ideas and bringing together clever people – how can we do this in a better way than cooperating in organizing of such an event?”